"CLAS consultants offer specialised advice regarding securing a solution to an acceptable CESG standard. These individuals have been approved by CESG who also maintain their vetting," the notice states.

The third lot is for RMADS (Risk Management Accreditation Document Set). RMADS is required for systems holding restricted data for accreditation, and is an information assurance standard stipulated by the government to comply with HMG's security policy framework.

The fourth and final lot is for the privacy impact assessment (PIA), a requirement under the Data Protection Act for any system that holds personal data.

The contract will be for an initial term of two years with the option to extend for two further terms of a year each. Tenders may be submitted for one or more lots.

The framework agreement is worth between £10m and £20m and is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).

Sometimes, the power of the mainframe is the most cost effective answer. Computing's Peter Gothard puts Computing's readers' questions on the future of the mainframe to IBM's Z13 expert Steven Dickens.